Home > Resources

Sermon: Elijah A Man like Us 1 Kings 16

Elijah 1


A Man Like Us


1 Kings 16:29-17:1; 21:25-26; Jas 5:17


We are beginning studies tonight on one of the most
remarkable men in the whole of the OT. By NT times
he was a legend. Indeed as we shall see he was a legend
in his own time. A man who stood single-handedly
against the will of a whole nation. Single-handedly that
is apart from the support of Almighty God.


We find him here in the last pages of 1 Kings. It is
around 860 BC, Ahab is the tenth King of Israel. The
book had started in the reign of David and his son
Solomon. That was the golden age in Israel’s history.
Israel was at it’s most politically secure, most
internationally respected and most spiritually alive.
David had been a king of spectacular virtues and some
spectacular vices, but at heart he loved God and put
first things first. Solomon reaped the benefit of David’s
reign. At first he followed David’s lead and worshipped
God. He started well. But in time he began to marry
pagan wives and began to worship pagan Gods. That
was the beginning of the rot.


His son Rehoboam succeeded him. He was a brash,
ruthless power-hungry youth. With his oppressive
regime he pitched the nation into civil war and the
outcome was partition. Two tribes in the south were
loyal to Rehoboam and the temple at Jerusalem. These
are generally referred to in the bible as Judah. The other
ten tribes revolted against Rehoboam’s oppression and
set up a confederacy of tribes in the North under the
disastrous leadership of Jeroboam. Spiritually
disastrous that is. Jeroboam, seeing the need for a
religious focus to hold the people together set up rival
forms of worship to the temple at Jerusalem - shrines at
Dan and Bethel.

This entry has been viewed 61 times.

| More

About John

Hi there - I am a member of Greenview and have been for over 20 years. For a number of these years I functioned as an elder, however, indifferent health forced me to take more of a back seat. I see this as an opportunity to do a little writing, often focussing on issues that are a matter of evangelical debate today. Naturally the views expressed are my own and may not reflect the views of the elders or church at large, though differences are likely to be in the detail and not the substance.

These articles and sermons were written partly to clarify my own thoughts and partly with the intention of provoking thought in others who may read them. If you read one I hope you find it stimulating. Please feel free to give me feedback or discuss my articles in the forums.

Subscribe to My Blog

Related Documents

Related Websites

  • there are no related websites

Most Recent Articles

Popular Articles